Hotel Booking is Easier via Mobile Apps

Dave Lee
Aug 29, 2017
3 min read

(Image from Traveltripper.com)

During recent years, as the world has implemented the use of internet and smartphones in various industries, one of the fast-growing implications in hospitality is hotel booking via mobile apps from Online Travel Agency (OTA). There are several OTA apps have been traveler’s trustworthy tool around the world such as Expedia, Hotwire, Booking.com, Agoda and Airbnb.

According to a study by PhoCusWright (cited in Ozturk, Nusair, Okumus & Singh, 2017), in 2011, mobile travel bookings accounted for over $2 billion in the US, marking up nearly 2% of all online bookings. The number reached $13 billion just two years later and was predicted to increase to around $40 billion by the end of 2015, which is more than a quarter of total online bookings. So why travelers prefer hotel booking via mobile devices or mobile apps? Here’s a couple of reasons that should be considered.

Convenience and Fast Booking

Convenience and fast booking are the main reasons why visitors prefer to make their reservation via mobile devices. Unlike what the process used to be when customers have to wait in line for check-in or make a call for booking, with mobile apps, they can manage to book, check-in, check-out and make payment in just a few minutes.

An evidence is the growth of same-day hotel booking via Expedia. In March 2012, Expedia executives reported that 16.6% of US Expedia users used their mobile devices for booking their hotel room within 24 hours of departure. And the data also showed that 81% of customers booking one-night stays via mobile devices are located within 10 miles away from the hotel (Ricca, 2013).

(Image from Traveltripper.com)

Fast Accessibility to Informations

Another advantage of using mobile devices for hotel booking is the ability to collect informations anywhere and compare different hotels in different locations at the same time. Prices play a very important role in their decision making process, 76% of leisure travelers booking via travel mobile apps like Expedia and Hotels.com for lower prices and better deals (McLandress, n.d.).

Not just price comparison, most hoteliers will have their locations, images, room availability and other informations updated on these OTA platforms to showcase their facilities and it essentially forms the customers expectations, making it easier for travelers to decide which hotel will suit their pocket and lifestyle.

See Feedback from Other Customers

Last but not least, most travelers would try to make their trip great and memorable, and hotels contribute significantly to their traveling experience. That is to say, choosing the right hotel to stay consumes a quite amount of time gathering enough informations. And instead of relying on limited informations from family and friends, travelers can easily see reviews or rates from previous customers via mobile hotel booking apps.

According to TripAdvisor, 93% of travelers using reviews to decide which hotel they’re going to book and 53% would not book if the hotel doesn’t have a review (Smith, 2017). Therefore, other customers feedback is a critical factor that gives them the confidence to make the decision, facilitate their booking process and spend more time on planning their trip.

References

Academic Articles

Ozturk, A., Nusair, K., Okumus, F., & Singh, D. (2017). Understanding mobile hotel booking loyalty: An integration of privacy calculus theory and trust-risk framework. Information Systems Frontiers : A Journal of Research and Innovation,19(4), 753-767. doi:10.1007/s10796-017-9736-4
Ricca, S. (2013). Expedia: Consumers want mobile and last-minute booking ability: Data show differences in phone, tablet use as channels expand.(NEWS). Hotel Management, 228(1), 56-56. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.ecu.edu.au/ps/i.do?ty=as&v=2.1&u=cowan&it=DIourl&s=RELEVANCE&p=AONE&qt=TI~%22Expedia%22~~SP~56~~IU~1~~PU~%22Hotel%20Management%22~~VO~228&lm=DA~120130100&sw=w&authCount=1

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